Wednesday, 14 June 2017

Man, 21, is arrested after 5 million people watched his 'illegal upload of Marvel's Deadpool on his Facebook page' - just days after it was released in theaters

A 21-year-old man was arrested in central California for allegedly uploading the Marvel film Deadpool to his Facebook, just days after it was released in February 2016, according to federal prosecutors.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California says Trevon Maurice Franklin was arrested Tuesday on a federal criminal charge of copyright infringement.

Franklin's arrest follows an FBI investigation.

The office says the film copyrighted by the Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation was viewed more than 5 million times on Franklin's Facebook page.

Franklin allegedly used the screen name 'Tre-Von M. King' to upload the film, which starred Ryan Reynolds.

The film was also one of the highest-grossing movies in 2016, taking home $783.1 million at the Box Office.

He has been accused of reproducing and distributing at least 10 copies of Deadpool, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Federal authorities estimated the total retail value of the copies was $2,500.

If convicted, Franklin faces a statutory maximum penalty of three years in federal prison.